


sugar & spice (all things nice)

by softheartedwolf (undermoonlitstars)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undermoonlitstars/pseuds/softheartedwolf
Summary: Little christmas themed ficlet, for the prompt 'Can I smell cinnamon?'
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	sugar & spice (all things nice)

Nico wandered over to the Big House with only the smallest amount of apprehension. 

Spending Christmas at Camp Half-Blood was something most year-rounders resigned themselves to. It wasn't an especially appealing thing, but it was nearly always better than spending the holiday season alone, most of them agreed. Not that Nico was a year-rounder, but he had people now who would nag him and worry about him if he did spend the holiday alone, so here he was. 

And here Percy was, too. He'd apparently claimed to be spending the holidays here to do something festive for the campers, but Nico thought he was probably sick of the noise and mess that came with babies, and wanted to avoid spending it with his mom. 

Nico loved Percy, was actually kind of looking forward to spending some time with him, but his attempts to be festive were... Well, Nico didn't have a lot of patience left. 

It was this latest attempt that had Nico concerned. He'd fought beside Percy in a lot of battles and knew he was capable of some great things - he just didn't know baking was one of them. You couldn't blame him, really. Whoever knew the saviour of Olympus could do something as mundane as bake? Probably Sally taught him. Nico's mouth started watering. If Percy only made something half as good as what Sally could make, it would still be good. But it wasn't the finished product he was worried about: it was the damage Percy might cause getting there. Percy could be something of a hurricane in the kitchen when he was doing something as simple as making sandwiches, never mind whatever this was. 

As soon as he opened the door his eyes streamed and he clamped his hand over his nose to defend against the assault. Some idiot spilled a jar of powdered cinnamon. It was maybe a bit harsh assuming it was his idiot, but Nico knew where the odds lay. 

He found Percy and two of the younger campers at the stove hovering around something he couldn't see. Just as he predicted, the kitchen looked like a localised bomb hit it and there were already several trays of cookies cooling on the counter. Stealth was something Nico excelled in, so it was no wonder they didn't notice him come up behind them. How could they breathe in here? Percy was the alleged supervisory adult here, he should have cleaned that up straight away.

He craned his neck over Percy's shoulder, and saw them trying to poke at a tray of christmas tree shaped cookies without burning their fingers. 

In the most deadpan tone he could manage, he said, 'Can I smell cinnamon.' 

The two kids shrieked and giggled and scurried away. Percy jumped and showed off some impressive reflexes saving the cookies from the stovetop while Nico's eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. It was hard to remain annoyed when Percy was wearing that sheepish grin. Mostly because Nico didn't want to. His face softened and he let himself enjoy his contentment at the quiet, domestic moment. 

'Didn't hear you come in,' Percy said, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. Nico tracked the movement with his eyes, enjoying the way icing sugar smeared trails everywhere. He offered a shy grin in return.

‘I’m not surprised. You all looked like you were enjoying yourselves.’ Nico wished he hadn’t walked up so close – he didn’t know what to do with his hands. Well, he knew what he wanted to do with them, he just didn’t know if Percy would appreciate Nico holding his hand. 

Percy just shrugged. ‘Well, that was sort of the point.’ The day Percy Jackson ever learned how to take a compliment is the day Nico’s soul goes straight to the underworld, never to return. He could just imagine the look on his fathers face if that ever happened. 

Screw this, Nico had spent too long making himself miserable to not do it. He reached out and slowly threaded his fingers through Percy’s ignoring that they were coated in various baking ingredients. Nico kept looking at their hands, so he didn’t have to look Percy in the eye. ‘Well, you deserve a great holiday, too. And I think it’s really sweet what you’ve been doing for the younger kids.’ 

When Nico finally glanced up at Percy, he saw Percy looked almost bewildered. He didn’t know if it was the hand holding or what he’d said. He hoped it wasn’t the hand holding. He didn’t want to stop. 

Confusion ebbed into a small, embarrassed smile, and Percy also looked down at their tangled fingers. ‘Did Nico di Angelo just call me sweet?’ 

‘No. You must be hearing things. It was the ghost of christmas past.’ 

Percy snorts unattractively, and Nico is glad he’s smiling again. ‘Sure it was,’ Percy rolled his eyes. ‘You think I’m sweet.’ He says the last word looking impossibly smug.

‘No I don’t.’ Yes I do. Nico couldn’t stop himself from beaming now, too. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d let himself be silly. He was very, very glad he wasn’t spending the holiday alone.


End file.
